Leaded water in Flint... here's a link to a local church collecting money for water

About time. My president SHOULD have said something a long time ago about this. There has been children sick as result of these endless moments of unclean water. He has children. He should have jumped on it as way as Michelle should have as well. But! He has now. So here's a looky at what he conveys: But!

Obama Calls Flint Water Crisis 'Inexplicable And Inexcusable'

The president said he understands why residents are outraged at the breakdown in government.

President Barack Obama on Wednesday called the ongoing municipal water crisis in Flint, Michigan, "inexplicable and inexcusable" and said government "broke down" in its responsibility to protect public health.

Obama, during an interview in Detroit with CBS set to air later this week, said he understands why Flint residents are outraged. The city's water supply has been contaminated with lead and other pollutants for months after a state-approved plan to save money by switching to corrosive Flint River water from the Detroit municipal system.

Obama, in an interview set to air on CBS Sunday Morning, told host Lee Cowan that government in Michigan "broke down" in its responsibility to protect public health and safety.

"What is inexplicable and inexcusable is once people figured out that there was a problem there, and that there was lead in the water, the notion that immediately families weren't notified, things weren't shut down," Obama said. "That shouldn't happen anywhere."

Obama was in Detroit to deliver a speech at the United Auto Workers-General Motors Center. He also commented on the crisis in Flint during the address.

"I know that if I was a parent up there, I would be beside myself that my kid's health could be at risk," he said.

Flint has been reeling from a months-long public health emergency that began in October, when residents started to complain about brown water coming out of taps that caused rashes. Local government largely ignored complaints from the predominantly black city. Officials finally acknowledged high lead levels in the water late last year after a local doctor obtained records showing elevated lead in blood tests for city children.

Eric Schultz, White House principal deputy press secretary, told The Washington Post that Obama is "deeply engaged" with the disaster response. Schultz declined to say whether the White House thinks Snyder should resign over the crisis, noting the government "should be focused on the actual problem."

Anonymous has set its crosshairs on Michigan Governor Rick Snyder for his part in the Flint water contamination crisis—but even the hacktivist group admits they’re late to the cause.

Anonymous Intelligence Group, an account associated with Anonymous, released a statement on Wednesday morning entitled “Anonymous Activates #OpFlint…And Yes It’s About Time!” The accompanying text and video begin with an acknowledgement that Michiganians have been in danger since April 2014. “For over a year now the citizens of Flint, Michigan have been subjected to drinking tap water filled with lead and other poisons,” the narrator says.

The video doesn’t explain any specifics of Anonymous’ attack plan, but assures those affected by the water crisis: “We will amplify your voice where the mainstream media will surely fail you, as it has in the past. We will also join you in calling bullshit on any spin that the corporate media is prepared to put on this.”

This announcement comes two months after four families filed the first federal class-action lawsuit against Governor Snyder and other government officials, one month after Flint Mayor Karen Weaver declared a public health state of emergency and four days after President Obama declared a federal state of emergency and granted $5 million in aid. All of these developments werecovered extensively by mainstream media.

Vocativ

This is just the latest example in a growing trend of reactionary Anonymous attacks. A Vocativ analysis of 95 Anonymous operation since the group’s formation in 2006 shows that many early operations helped draw public attention to—and inspire headlines for—issues like abuse within the Church of Scientology, internet censorship and child pornography. But more recent attacks like Operation Charlie Hebdo, Operation Paris and Operation Trump seem to be inspired by the headlines.

Didn't dude just say its gon cost around a billion dollars to fix? What is a few million gon do? Just like they have alllllllllll these campaigns to raise money for silly shyte....they can raise MONEY for this. A few millions is NOT gonna rectify this problem cuz they got to tear everything up and start FRESH. Water is not something to play with...cuz it can affect your health AND well being. Folks don't think about it until they don't have water themselves. I remember the shortage during the 1994 Earthquake in Cali. The first thing rescuers did was bring WATER to the community and told EVERY body not to DRINK water from the faucet and refraining from bathing in it. So. I feel like the WHOLE country should BANNED together and GET this money for the people in Flint. This is truly a state of EMERGENCY issue. Where oh where are our BLACK LEADERS? Where is West? Where is Smiley? Where are the black Caucus? Black Lives Matter...where are yall? Everybody NEEDS water. So this is a HUMAN crisis for all of us to react to immediately. Cuz you never know. This just might happen on your side of town. Since you know America is slowly turning into a third world country and all. To keep[ that from happening or spreading? We need to nip this in the bud NOW!!! But!

From what I've read, there's no way to reverse this needless and criminal lead poisoning once it's deep in the body.

It also might have long term damage to children and has been proven to have a negative effect on youth brain development.

Hopefully, they will prevail in the Class Action Lawsuit that has been filed, and those that did not sign on to that will have sense enough to hire an attorney to sue the City, the State, and to sue each individual personally that signed off or authorized this Germ Warfare Tactic.

ALL of the City officials AND the Governor should be fired/unseated and criminally charged.

From what I've read, there's no way to reverse this needless and criminal lead poisoning once it's deep in the body.

It also might have long term damage to children and has been proven to have a negative effect on youth brain development.

Hopefully, they will prevail in the Class Action Lawsuit that has been filed, and those that did not sign on to that will have sense enough to hire an attorney to sue the City, the State, and to sue each individual personally that signed off or authorized this Germ Warfare Tactic.

ALL of the City officials AND the Governor should be fired/unseated and criminally charged.

This is all elementary stuff, adding alkaline chemicals to the water to reverse corrosion from acidity, regular water chemical analysis, etc. These people did not do their regular jobs, period. This is severe gross negligence - worse than germ warfare. Yeah, sue them but that avoidable damage to these innocent children cannot be reversed! This is evil.

This is nothing but genocide man. I don't care what they say. How in the hell are you gonna let something like this going on sooooooo long that people are being long term affected? After this is over? Folks need to sue the city, the state for public neglect. Most definitely sue the water company. There is no excuse for this lack of humanity. No person...especially in THIS country should be WITHOUT clean...drinkable water. There is a FAILURE to protect the people. FAILURE, And we're in advanced culture? But!

From what I've read, there's no way to reverse this needless and criminal lead poisoning once it's deep in the body.

It also might have long term damage to children and has been proven to have a negative effect on youth brain development.

Hopefully, they will prevail in the Class Action Lawsuit that has been filed, and those that did not sign on to that will have sense enough to hire an attorney to sue the City, the State, and to sue each individual personally that signed off or authorized this Germ Warfare Tactic.

ALL of the City officials AND the Governor should be fired/unseated and criminally charged.

This is all elementary stuff, adding alkaline chemicals to the water to reverse corrosion from acidity, regular water chemical analysis, etc. These people did not do their regular jobs, period. This is severe gross negligence - worse than germ warfare. Yeah, sue them but that avoidable damage to these innocent children cannot be reversed! This is evil.

And neither should the avoidable damages to their careers and their lives be reversed.

This is nothing but genocide man. I don't care what they say. How in the hell are you gonna let something like this going on sooooooo long that people are being long term affected? After this is over? Folks need to sue the city, the state for public neglect. Most definitely sue the water company. There is no excuse for this lack of humanity. No person...especially in THIS country should be WITHOUT clean...drinkable water. There is a FAILURE to protect the people. FAILURE, And we're in advanced culture? But!

Nothing but Racist Germ Warfare on a predominately Black city! How else can you explain their contaminating the water of this town while bypassing the THREE OTHER TOWNS IT IS SURROUNDED BY?

I'm sure that is permanent skin damage. Even if a dermatology can get rid of the rash, her skin will still be left permanently scarred. And that does not even count for all the biological damage that has been done to her; she's probably going to have health problems all her life, and God forbid if she ever has children.

They....Americans need to do FLINT like they do when there is a disaster aboard. Remember? All that money for Haiti-that NEVER got to the people. The money raised for other offshore castrophes[sp]. We don't have go ANY where outside to give help.....we can turn it inward and OUR own folks. Hopefully more artists/starts/celebrities and citizens of the United States of America...will follow. But!

There are 9/11 truthers, Sandy Hook truthers, San Bernardino truthers, and now there are Flint truthers. Despite overwhelming scientific evidence, including testimony from medical and water experts, video and photographic evidence and multiple first-hand testimonies, some people still doubt that Flint’s water is contaminated by lead poisoning.

According to The Detroit Free Press, Oakland County Executive, L. Brooks Patterson said the Flint water situation was “overblown.” Patterson cited a radio interview by Bill Ballenger, a former state lawmaker who lives in Flint. According to Patterson, Ballenger said he had drank and washed in the water and had reported no side effects. Ballenger also said there was no evidence of elevated lead levels.

The Detroit Free Press reported that Patterson quoted Ballenger saying the Flint water situation was “one of the most overblown scandals in the history of the state.”

However, while some Republicans are dismissing the Flint water crisis, Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder is taking it extremely seriously. Snyder has already received federal help for the contaminated water in Flint and has apologized for the crisis, which has been blamed on emergency managers he appointed. Flint residents have been complaining of brown, foul-smelling ever since the city switched to the Flint River for its water source.

Snyder is facing an increasing number of calls for his resignation. Filmmaker Michael Moore and presidential candidate Sen. Bernie Sanders have both called for Snyder to step down. (Moore has also called on President Barack Obama to visit Flint.) They have been joined by a host of other civic groups. According to The Guardian, 350 protesters staged a demonstration at the State Capitol calling for Snyder’s head on Tuesday. The demonstrators chanted slogans such as “clean water is a right, not just for the rich and white” and “Flint lives matter.”

Flint resident Richard Vasquez was one of the protesters at the State Capitol. He said what happened in Flint was a national embarrassment for a developed country like America.

“We are not Third World. This is America, this should not happen here,” Vasquez said. “That’s why we have people from all over the city and world here, supporting Flint. Because it can happen to you, it can happen in your city.”

Lonnie Scott, executive director of Progress Michigan, a left-leaning communications organization based in Lansing, Mich., told The Guardian Tuesday’s rally attracted 20 different organizations from around the state. One of the groups represented was the Michigan Nurses Association. Cheryl Weston, a registered nurseand former Flint resident, said she talked to some Flint parents who had complained their children were having a hard time concentrating in school. She also learned that Flint hospitals had stopped using tap water, even for washing.

“That tells me a lot,” she said.

Snyder requested a $28 million appropriation from the legislature during his state of the state address to deal with Flint’s water problem. Snyder has been accused of being aware of the contaminated water and failing to take action. He announced he will release 2014 and 2015 emails regarding Flint in an effort to counter this charge.

However, many Michigan residents have already lost faith in Snyder and want him gone.

Michael Sabbagh, a Detroit-based doctoral studentand activist, accused the Snyder administration of trying to bury evidence of the contaminated water in Flint.

“The governor’s office was so dismissive of reports of water contamination for over a year,” said Sabbagh, “and they had all the information. I don’t think most people would be satisfied with anything short of resignation. Most protesters’ demands are [for] Governor Snyder’s resignation and potential arrest.”

Some residents have opted to take legal action over the situation. According to ABC News, lawyers have filed three lawsuits on behalf of Flint residents.

Attorneys from Pitt, McGehee, Palmer & Rivers have also announced class action lawsuits against Snyder, former Flint emergency manager Darnell Earley and Jerry Ambrose, the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services and Genesee County. Attorney Bill Goodman said he had filed a federal lawsuit. Attorney Cary McGehee said a call center has been set up to recruit Flint residents for a class-action lawsuit. 500 people have registered so far, he said.

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I’ve tried to come up with an appropriate name for this infuriating crime. It’s genocide. Genocide by neglectThe people hired by the water department presumably knew the simplest rudiments. If so, why the hell did they not follow A-B-C basic protocol knowing full well – as is truly common knowledge for anyone who works in any kind of water processing facility – that old pipes with lead connectors or leads welds – will be exposed by acidic corrosive water and leach into the drinking water supply. This is the ABCs of their job. If they were trained, then they acted or omitted to act with foreknowledge of the consequences! Where's their records?! That’s genocide by purposeful neglect. Lives were in these people’s hands! On the other side, if they hired untrained people who were extremely incompetent to work in the water department, that’s heavy neglect too. These people must pay!

Flint Water Crisis Forces EPA Official To Resign

The EPA said it will take greater control after failures by local and state government.

The Environmental Protection Agency boss for the Midwest resigned Thursday amid ongoing fallout over the drinking water crisis in Flint, Michigan.

As the EPA's Region 5 administrator, Susan Hedman helped oversee the state's handling of Flint's water, which became toxic after the city switched its water source nearly two years ago.

EPA head Gina McCarthy accepted Hedman's resignation "given Susan’s strong interest in ensuring that EPA Region 5’s focus remains solely on the restoration of Flint’s drinking water," the agency said in a statement.

The EPA also issued an emergency order -- something it had previously resisted doing -- that will give the agency more control of the water situation after determining the city and state responses to the crisis "have been inadequate to protect public health and that these failures continue." Among other things, the EPA will begin sampling Flint's tap water and posting results online.

After Flint switched to the Flint River as its water source in April 2014, the state's top water regulator failed to ensure the water wouldn't corrode the city's aging pipes, many of which contain lead. Early last year, the EPA became aware that unsafe amounts of lead had leached into the water, but proved ineffectual in its efforts to make the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality treat the water to reduce its corrosiveness.

An EPA official reported in a memo obtained by the Michigan ACLU in July that a Flint household had high lead levels, and that he wasn't surprised, since the city hadn't implemented the corrosion controls required by law. "The lack of any mitigating treatment for lead is of serious concern for residents that live in homes with lead service lines or partial lead service lines, which are common throughout the City of Flint," the memo said.

Hedman told city and state officials the memo was a draft that shouldn't have been released -- an assurance they used to downplay lead concerns for months. The EPA remained silent about the memo, Hedman told Huffpost in a recent interview, because it contained identifying information about a private citizen whose children had been exposed to high lead levels. Hedman also said the EPA did everything it could within the constraints of the federal Safe Drinking Water Act, which puts local and state regulators on the front lines of water safety.

Michigan didn't admit Flint's water had a lead problem until October, after a local pediatrician reported an increase in the number of city children with high lead levels in their blood. Lead is a deadly neurotoxin that even in small amounts can inflict permanent brain damage and stunted growth on young children. That month, Flint switched back to Detroit's water system and the government told residents to quit drinking the water.

Since then, President Barack Obama has granted Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder's request for an emergency declaration, and the National Guard has begun assisting with a door-to-door water delivery effort. It's not clear how soon Flint tap water will be safe to drink again.

In the interview two weeks ago, Hedman was asked why it took private citizens to force a reckoning with Flint's toxic water.

"An informed public that calls on government to take action is an important force for protection of the environment and public health," Hedman said.

Former Flint City Council member Josh Freeman joined the HuffPost Politics podcast to discuss the city's switch to the Flint River as its water source:

Brotha DK wrote : I’ve tried to come up with an appropriate name for this infuriating crime. It’s genocide. Genocide by neglectThe people hired by the water department presumably knew the simplest rudiments. If so, why the hell did they not follow A-B-C basic protocol knowing full well – as is truly common knowledge for anyone who works in any kind of water processing facility – that old pipes with lead connectors or leads welds – will be exposed by acidic corrosive water and leach into the drinking water supply. This is the ABCs of their job. If they were trained, then they acted or omitted to act with foreknowledge of the consequences! Where's their records?! That’s genocide by purposeful neglect. Lives were in these people’s hands! On the other side, if they hired untrained people who were extremely incompetent to work in the water department, that’s heavy neglect too. These people must pay!

Exactly! No matter how you look at it my brotha....it is still GENOCIDE! And another reason for this lack of competency? LAZINESS. Government workers don't have the pride in their job like they used to. We see that here in Cali...where there should NEVER be people exposed to gas! To gas! And it seems to me this privileged can't fire me no matter how incompetent I am attitude among utility workers is across this country. We are turning into INDIA....yall. Cuz India is one of the third richest third world countries and yet they will NOT put the basic like toilets in their citizens residence....knowing full well that without toilets in homes...women are subjected to rape, abused and murder....and knowing full well that when people bathe in the Gange River...they will be subjected to health issues like hepatitis etc. But do they act on it? Hell no. And it's been happening like this for years. And they've had MONEY for years to rectify it. But they don't.

So is America the beautiful headed in the same direction? I think so. Cuz like India, America has the MONEY to eliminate the basic...the basic risk to human life and they sat on their hands and did nothing but blame others for their own non-action. Homeboy said I drank from the water and even bathe in it. That's a lie. A bald face lie. And if he did? How many times did you drink the water? How many times did you bathe in it? Probably one time. So. It's like talking to one of those backward ass third world dignitaries [whose mindset is still in 3000 BC] who don't give a damn and will say anything to show public face. Well...in America...that shye gotta stop right now. Already we are being killed walking down the street. What? They want to ensure genocide of us by putting it in the water? So the only way to fight back to make sure this will NEVER happen again? SUE SUE SUE SUE SUE and demand HEADS TO ROLL. Cuz apparently the employees in the water company don't want their jobs. So let's replace them with those who do want to work and who do have PRIDE in that work. Otherwise...India! But!

BTW: There is another proof of laziness I observed with utility workers...is this. We have water rations here in Cali...so we have the water police patrolling neighborhoods making sure residents are not cheating and using water on their off day....you know what I see? Water patrol folks in cars talking on the cell phone, putting lipstick on in the mirror, primping...grooming...doing everything else but THEIR JOB while driving down neighborhoods supposedly monitoring water use. So no wonder there is a problem brewing in the utility industry. No wonder. No pride, no respect, no honor. Pitiful.

I’ve tried to come up with an appropriate name for this infuriating crime. It’s genocide. Genocide by neglectThe people hired by the water department presumably knew the simplest rudiments. If so, why the hell did they not follow A-B-C basic protocol knowing full well – as is truly common knowledge for anyone who works in any kind of water processing facility – that old pipes with lead connectors or leads welds – will be exposed by acidic corrosive water and leach into the drinking water supply. This is the ABCs of their job. If they were trained, then they acted or omitted to act with foreknowledge of the consequences! Where's their records?! That’s genocide by purposeful neglect. Lives were in these people’s hands! On the other side, if they hired untrained people who were extremely incompetent to work in the water department, that’s heavy neglect too. These people must pay!

DK, I bet they had discussions about properly preparing the water to send through the old plumbing to Flint but was told not to do it because it would save more money or viewed the people of Flint as powerless and less than human.

Would Flint Crisis Happen In Wealthier, Whiter Community?

"It's not just a water crisis. It's a racial crisis. It's a poverty crisis. That's what this is, and that's what created this."

01/22/2016 12:18 pm ET

SARAH RICE VIA GETTY IMAGES

FLINT, Mich. (AP) -- Ever since the full extent of the Flint water crisis emerged, one question has persisted: Would this have happened in a wealthier, whiter community?

Residents in the former auto-making hub - a poor, largely minority city - feel their complaints about lead-tainted water flowing through their taps have been slighted by the government or ignored altogether. For many, it echoes the lackluster federal response to New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina in 2005.

"Our voices were not heard, and that's part of the problem," Flint Mayor Karen Weaver said this week at the U.S. Conference of Mayors meeting in Washington, D.C., where she also met with President Barack Obama to make her case for federal help for her city.

The frustration has mostly been directed at Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder, who appointed an emergency manager to run Flint. That manager approved a plan in 2013 to begin drawing drinking water from the Flint River, and the city began doing so the next year. But officials failed to treat the corrosive water properly to prevent metal leaching from old pipes.

Snyder, a Republican in his second term, was blasted by Hillary Clinton in her remarks after the recent Democratic presidential debate.

"We've had a city in the United States of America where the population, which is poor in many ways and majority African-American, has been drinking and bathing in lead-contaminated water. And the governor of that state acted as though he didn't really care," Clinton said.

Snyder "had requests for help that he had basically stone-walled. I'll tell you what: If the kids in a rich suburb of Detroit had been drinking contaminated water and being bathed in it, there would've been action."

ASSOCIATED PRESS

Flint residents complained loudly and often about the water quality immediately after the switch but were repeatedly told it was safe. They didn't learn the water was tainted until the state issued warnings a year and a half later. Now families fear for their health and especially for the future of their children, who can develop learning disabilities and behavior problems from lead exposure.

Snyder, who has apologized for the mishandling of the situation, declined a request by The Associated Press for an interview Thursday. But in response to Clinton's remarks, he said the former secretary of state should not make Flint a political issue.

His staff issued a statement to AP that cited his efforts in urban areas such as Detroit, which also has a large black population. An emergency manager appointed by Snyder led that city through bankruptcy in 2013-14.

"Bringing Detroit back to a solid fiscal foundation has allowed the city to restore services, and we've watched its economy grow, creating jobs and better opportunities," the statement said. Snyder has also "focused on improving education in all our cities, knowing that students need to not just graduate, but graduate with in-demand skills as they compete in a global economy."

When asked Friday on MSNBC's "Morning Joe" whether the Flint disaster was a case of environmental racism, Snyder said: "Absolutely not. Flint is a place I've been devoted to helping. ... I've made a focused effort since before I started in office to say we need to work hard to help people who have the greatest need."

Flint, a city about 75 miles north of Detroit, is the birthplace of General Motors and once had 200,000 residents. In the early 1970s, the automaker employed 80,000 blue- and white-collar workers in the area. Fewer than 8,000 GM jobs remain, and the city's population has dropped to just below 100,000, with a corresponding rise in property abandonment and poverty.

BILL PUGLIANO VIA GETTY IMAGES

The city is 57 percent black, and 42 percent of its people live in poverty.

The decline of GM jobs "left a lot of people destitute and desperate, and they feel like their voices aren't being heard. It just adds to the frustration," said Phil Rashead, 66, of Flint, who is white.

Paul Mohai, a professor at the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, has studied environmental burdens and their disproportionate impact on low-income and minority communities since the late 1990s. He said Flint is a classic case of minority and low-income residents confronting an environmental issue and that "it may be one of the biggest environmental justice disasters we've seen in a long time."

"What's kind of clear is that they've been vocalizing their concerns and the response has been rather weak," he said.

Former Flint Mayor Dayne Walling, who lost his re-election bid in November amid the water crisis, said newly released emails by Snyder showed that the governor's staffers disregarded Flint's plight because of the city's demographics.

"There are a number of indications that concerns of Flint's elected leaders and faith and community leaders were being dismissed as political posturing instead of taken seriously as efforts to address very real problems," said Walling, who is white and was first elected mayor in 2009.

Frustrations boiled over at a weekend protest outside City Hall.

"They would never do this to Bloomfield. They would never do this to Ann Arbor. They would never do this to Farmington Hills," filmmaker and Flint native Michael Moore said, referring to much wealthier Michigan communities. He called for Snyder's ouster and arrest.

Moore also cited deaths from Legionnaires' disease recorded in the Flint area over the past two years and only announced publicly last week by Snyder. The state has not linked them to Flint's waters, but others disagree.

"Let's call this what it is," Moore said. "It's not just a water crisis. It's a racial crisis. It's a poverty crisis. That's what this is, and that's what created this."

FLINT, Mich/WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on Friday suspended two state workers in connection with water testing failures in the Flint contamination crisis and the state restored some powers to Mayor Karen Weaver.

Snyder, who NBC news reported has hired a crisis PR firm, suspended two Michigan Department of Environmental Quality workers in an increasing national furor over elevated lead readings in tap water and the blood of some children.

Snyder apologized this week to Flint residents for the state's failures. Reports have pointed to errors at the city, state and federal level, but the bulk of the blame has been put on the DEQ, a state agency whose director resigned at the end of last year over Flint's water issues.

"Some DEQ actions lacked common sense and that resulted in this terrible tragedy in Flint," Snyder said in a statement.

Shortly before Snyder's announcement, the Michigan Treasurer said Mayor Weaver who was elected in November to lead the city that is in receivership, can now hire and fire the city administrator and department heads.

Weaver met on Tuesday with President Barack Obama over the water contamination crisis gripping her city. A state-appointed board on Friday unanimously recommended that some powers be returned to the Flint mayor as the financially strapped city transitions to local control from the state control that once included an emergency manager.

Flint's lead contamination problem came after a 2014 switch in water supplies to save money.

"I recognize, and we recognize, that we have a lot of work we have to do, I believe this is a step forward and I appreciate it," Weaver told the board via a conference call.

The suspensions came one day after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency said a top regional official would resign because of the crisis.

A succession of Flint emergency managers appointed by Snyder to try to solve the city's fiscal woes have come under criticism. Their cost-cutting measures exposed Flint to a local water supply that was more corrosive than the previous water supply and caused more lead to leach from aging water pipes.

Snyder, who has rejected calls to resign, blamed the water crisis on bureaucracy, citing a cultural problem with civil servants more focused on technicalities than common sense.

"You have a handful of ... 'experts' that were career civil service people that made terrible decisions... and we have to live with the consequences with that. They work for me so I accept that responsibility and we're going to fix this problem," he told MSNBC's "Morning Joe" program on Friday.

Residents complained about the water within weeks of the change in supplies, but officials did not take action until October 2015 after tests showed some tap water and children with elevated levels of lead, a neurotoxin that causes brain damage and other health issues.

The ordeal has raised questions about the effect of inequality. Flint, a poorer, majority African-American city of 100,000 is about an hour north of Detroit.

Asked if the public health crisis was a case of so-called environmental racism, Snyder said "absolutely not," adding that officials have distributed bottled water and filters.

That's a new word to add to my list of white supremacy: environmental racism. But!

That phrase has been around for a while now, it's just that most people never hear it because it involves the quality of life of Black people, minorities [and poor White people]in America.

Black people have been battling or living with Environmental Racism for decades in this country, beginning with landlords and property owners allowing their properties to become dilapidated and dangerous structures when predominately Black people and other minorities live in them, to the times when landlords would have arsonist set fire to dwellings/buildings with no regard for the lives of the people living in them, to cities refusing to keep the streets swept, over-growth cut, and garbage properly taken care of, to steering Black families into communities and areas in close proximity to toxic waste and other environmental contamination.

Attachments

That's a new word to add to my list of white supremacy: environmental racism. But!

That phrase has been around for a while now, it's just that most people never hear it because it involves the quality of life of Black people, minorities [and poor White people]in America.

Black people have been battling or living with Environmental Racism for decades in this country, beginning with landlords and property owners allowing their properties to become dilapidated and dangerous structures when predominately Black people and other minorities live in them, to the times when landlords would have arsonist set fire to dwellings/buildings with no regard for the lives of the people living in them, to cities refusing to keep the streets swept, over-growth cut, and garbage properly taken care of, to steering Black families into communities and areas in close proximity to toxic waste and other environmental contamination.

That's a new word to add to my list of white supremacy: environmental racism. But!

That phrase has been around for a while now, it's just that most people never hear it because it involves the quality of life of Black people, minorities [and poor White people]in America.

Black people have been battling or living with Environmental Racism for decades in this country, beginning with landlords and property owners allowing their properties to become dilapidated and dangerous structures when predominately Black people and other minorities live in them, to the times when landlords would have arsonist set fire to dwellings/buildings with no regard for the lives of the people living in them, to cities refusing to keep the streets swept, over-growth cut, and garbage properly taken care of, to steering Black families into communities and areas in close proximity to toxic waste and other environmental contamination.

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